Dear Pop

Dear Pop-

It has only been two days and I'm missing you more today. I've been going over and over in my head what I'm going to write to you. Even though you were sick for a while and had a kidney transplant in your 40's, you are still the strongest man I have ever known. For all the circumstances you have been through, you were always so happy and healthy for so long. It was only the past two years that life started getting a little rough. But you always hung in there. Your spirits were always high no matter how you were feeling or what you were going through.

I remember when I was a little girl I was so in love with you. I was definitely a daddy's girl. I knew I wanted to marry a man just like you when I grew up. And guess what... I did. I am definitely my father's daughter. I'm so much like you. I get my calm nature from you. I don't let things get to me and I'm always so laid back. I get that from you. You were always so artistic and creative. You were so good at drawing. You drew me some great pictures like all the characters from The Wizard of Oz. You even built me that two story doll house made out of cardboard. You decorated it with wall paper and even made cardboard furniture. I loved that thing and played with it for hours. You even built us that red tree house in the back yard. We had so many memories there. I have always been creative just like you. I'm not quite as good at drawing but I have other artistic abilities and a creative mind.


One of the funniest memories I have is when you farted then jumped and said "Where's the mouse!" I cracked up for hours it seemed like. Another funny memory is when I was sitting on your lap and you were singing the Mickey Mouse song, "M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. Mickey Mouse!" I thought it was such a silly song and wanted you to keep singing it over and over. I loved going to the library with you and picking out books and having you read to me right before bedtime.

You also had a love for music just like me. Some nights you would bring home some stuff from work and play music while you worked on it. We were jamming to The Four Seasons "Oh what a night" and I was pretending I was on a stage while dancing around. I loved that song from Electric Light Orchestra where it sounded like there was an alien robot in the beginning. I always asked you to play it for me so I could listen to it on your head phones.

I always say things like you to be funny. Like the way you used to say K-mart. "KEEYYY-MART!" Or when you find something instead of "There it is" you would say "There-a-lar!" And "chachage" instead of sausage. There are so many more.

I love when you used to bring me something to drink in my room just because. And sometimes you would bring me little snacks. You liked to let you cereal sit in the milk for a little while to get soggy before you ate it. I think I like soggy things because of you now.

You loved your grand babies so much. Baby Ryan loves his "poppa" and would get so excited when he would go to see you. I remember how excited you got when I told you Jordan and I were having a girl.

When we danced together at my wedding to Tim Mcgraw's "My little girl", you told me "You're not a little girl anymore." I love how you always called me baby since I was a little girl.

You were always such a kind hearted, sweet person. You liked to make conversation with strangers and touched every ones lives that you came across. I was so lucky to have such a loving father who was always there for me and supported in everything I did. You were always the best husband to my mom that any could ever ask for. We were all so lucky to have you in our lives for as long as we did.

I'm going to get Jessalyn a little Dallas Cowboys cheerleading uniform just for you. She is going to look so cute. I'm so happy you got to meet her and you got to be in her life for a little while.

I'm so glad that you went so peacefully. My mom told me that when she found you that you looked so peaceful and happy. That makes it just a little bit easier for me. I know you were tired and you were ready to go. We weren't ready to let you go yet. But we were never going to be ready. But I know you are happy and you aren't in any pain. You are peaceful. I wonder what your last thoughts were. The last time I saw you was a month ago in Denver when you were in the hospital. I know nobody really ever gets to say goodbye and I doubt it would have made it easier. But I'm sad that I didn't get to say good bye and tell you how much I love you and how much I'm going to miss you and that I can't wait to see you again. I'm sure you already know all that but I still wish I could have told you and hugged you and kissed you one last time. I wish I could take away my moms pain from losing you. I can only imagine what she is going through but she is happy your last day was a happy day and that you went peacefully. I will think about you ever day like I always have. You would be so happy to know how much you are going to be missed by so many people. There is so much more I would like to say but I can't see much with all these tears.

Well Pop, I love you so much and I will see you soon. Then we can jam to some music and eat soggy cereal and lemon eegee's together.

Love,

Your Daughter

Tradition

My dad grew up in the tiny town called Manassa. It's in the southern part of Colorado. The population is about 1,042 and is exactly one square mile in size. Every summer in July, a celebration is held on the main street called the Pioneer Days. The 131st annual celebration was held last year. It is held closest to July 24th and the celebration is in honor of Brigham Young and fellow members of the LDS church in Salt Lake.

When my parents were little they went with their parents and family every year. And for as long as I can remember we went every year until I was about 18. I joke around and say I'm related to half the town. But the funny thing is it might be true in some way or another.

Now that my family moved back a year ago we decided that we want to try to keep up with this tradition with our kids. My parents now live literally across the street from the LDS church and right on main street. So Jessalyn and I are making a trip out there next week for her first Pioneer Days celebration! Unfortunately Jordan wont be able to make it this year due to school. But we have many more years ahead of us.

The celebration is usually on a Friday and Saturday. There is a parade with a bunch of floats. The whole town gathers on the streets to watch the parade. After the parade we usually go over to the hamburger stand and eat some lunch in the park. Later on in the evening is when we get to go to the carnival and ride some rides. We won't be doing much carnival riding until Jess is bigger but it's still going to be lots of fun.
The funny thing about this whole celebration is that I never actually knew what the Pioneer Days were as a kid. I just thought it was a fun parade and carnival and time to spend with my cousins. But now actually knowing the meaning of the celebration makes it much more special and exciting. I've been surrounded by the church my whole life with out really knowing it. It just goes to show how everything happens for a reason.

A look back...

This is a random post but I was looking through some old pictures and came across these. Some of them are fun memories to look back on.

Apparently I like to do this pose. Haha. The first picture was when I was about twenty. Before I was married and living in my tiny studio apartment by myself. My BFF came to visit me for a quick trip and of course we had to have a little photo shoot. If you ask Sarah I'm sure she would know the exact date this was. The second picture was right after Jordan and I got married. Maybe just a few weeks. I decided to slowly start chopping off my hair right after we got married.

This was in December 2006. Just a month before we got married at my cousin's wedding. Jordan just turned 22 and I was 21.
We went to Portland, Oregon with Jordan's parents around spring or summer of 2007 for his Grandpa's wedding. I loved it there. It was so beautiful and we even thought about moving there. The number one thing I wanted to do while we were there was go to Roloff farm from the TLC show "Little People Big World". We only got to go as far as this sign because the farm was closed. But I was still excited.


We took a little weekend trip out to Sedona and the Grand Canyon a few months after we got married. I think this was around Fall time in Arizona because I was dressed in a sweater. That was such a fun little spur of the moment trip.

And this was the super bowl last year. We had a super bowl party with Jordan's family. James and Heather and the boys came to visit too so it was a nice to have his family all together. Little did anyone know that baby Jessalyn was in my tummy at this time. I took the pregnancy test that Friday two days before the super bowl. It was a fun little secret that the two of us had. I was about five or six weeks. We told only close family a few days later after we had our first dr. appointment.

So there was a fun little look back with pictures!

9 Months Old!

Jessalyn turned 9 months old today!
She has the cutest personality ever. She likes to shake her head no. I don't think she knows what it means but she does it to be funny. I think she learned it from me because I would shake my head and say no when I didn't want her doing something. All she does is laugh at me.

She is a girl of a million faces. She gets that from her daddy for sure.

We decided to go out into the sticky, humid heat to have our monthly photo shoot. Then we went to the pool to cool off. She learned how to 'jump' in from sitting on the ledge into daddy's arms. She got pretty excited about it and kept doing it.

She loves music so much. She is our future musician. She even started dancing to it. She does a little booty shake. Haha. We have a little bit on our YouTube video.

Her favorite snack right now is goldfish. She gets so excited as soon as her take out the bag. Usually if she is a little fussy sometimes a goldfish can calm her down right away.

She has become very attached to me. I'm home with her all day so she us so used to having me around all the time. She cries for me even when I leave her with daddy just to go to the bathroom. The other day I left her with daddy while I took a quick shower and she came crawling into the room looking for me. She's gotten very good at saying "Mama" and says it whenever she wants me. It's so cute. It melts my heart each time.I love my baby girl more than anything and love watching her grow. It's so exciting seeing all the new discoveries she finds each day. I also know we are going to have our hands full when she starts walking. She is pulled up on everything and anything she can and has started getting into drawers. uh oh...haha.

Who needs toys?

This is Jessalyn's latest favorite place to hang out. These little plastic drawers are filled with a bunch of random stuff. She loves taking everything out and of course putting everything in her mouth.
I put everything away that could possibly be a choking hazard and I let her go at it.

And of course she has to use her new found freedom of pulling up on anything and everything.

Ooooh and doors that open! Soon we'll have to baby proofing all of our doors and drawers.

But until then I will be cleaning up all the little messes she leaves behind. Cuz who needs toys when you have a bathroom filled with boxes of band aids and tubes of toothpaste?! Haha. The things that keep her entertained...

Mall Fun

On Jordan's day off from school we wanted to get out and do something and get out of the heat. We decided to do our usual and walk around the mall.

Jessalyn was pretty excited because she got to get on the little rides.

And we found her some new awesome kicks! Aren't they adorbs. She thinks so.

And she made some friends at the little play area. This little girl wanted to tell everyone who she was and who she was with.


Daddy helped her go down the slide.

She was having a blast pulling up on everything and crawling all over the place.

And she took a ride in this pretty sweet car just her size!

She found another car she might like better. I think she is following in her mommy's footsteps and is going for the bigger vehicles.

This little girls name is Aspen and she gave Jessalyn a bunch of kisses. I think they became best friends. She was a wild little girl. Jessalyn mostly just stared at her craziness.

We had a great day at the mall!

The 4th!

We got to spend our 4th of July at the amusement park we have here called Worlds of Fun. We started out the day at the water park Oceans of fun. It felt so good being in the water because it was so hot and humid outside.

Jessalyn was very patriotic in her little red, white and blue outfit. We got to ride on the carousel with her and she loved it! Jordan got to the park earlier than us so he rode a bunch of the roller coasters earlier that day.


It was so hot and muggy out that day that my body just couldn't handle it. After a long day out in the humidity I think I got heat exhaustion because I'm not used to it yet. Jordan had to end up taking us girls home so we missed the fireworks that night. I was really sad about it and wanted to stay but I think I would have passed out if I stayed any longer.



So we got home and cooled off and took some pictures together with our matching bows. We had a great time even though it ended kind of short and Jessalyn didn't get a chance to see any fireworks.